Abstract:
The nanotechnology gods just might be smiling on Albert Maniaol and Matthew Isaac. The two organizers behind the San Bernardino Nano Center's first Nanotechnology Conference, ending today in San Bernardino, are holding out for big returns on their intellectual investment in the community.

More than 80 people from around California showed up Thursday, the conference's first day, eager to watch and learn.

Scientists from UC Riverside, Santa Clara University and regional companies gave the audience a taste of how nanotechnology may change life as we know it.

"We want to train and prepare a work force in this emerging high-growth technology," said Maniaol, a lead researcher at the Nano Center and director of the Applied Technologies Training Center, which is under the San Bernardino Community College District. "If we have a trained work force, we can entice manufacturing industries to start businesses here."

Nanotechnology research is causing ripples in the global science community, but its projected effects on the economy could make quite a splash over the next couple of decades.